MessageBird To Acquire SparkPost For $600 Million

Global omnichannel communications company MessageBird is acquiring email optimization platform SparkPost in a $600 million deal that will help the Netherlands-based MessageBird expand its reach across the U.S., according to a press release. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.

The agreement will add 5 trillion secure business-to-consumer (B2C) email interactions to MessageBird’s platform a year, the release stated. MessageBird already offers channels like WhatsApp, Instagram, Google Business Messages, Messenger, WeChat, LiveChat, Apple Business Chat, Telegram and others.

“The future of communications isn’t siloed — it’s omnichannel,” said MessageBird CEO Robert Vis in the release. “Our acquisition of SparkPost will further strengthen our ability to serve customers through email.”

The acquisition is another step for MessageBird to expand and allow consumers to speak directly with companies, just as they would with their family and friends, the release stated.

“By joining forces with Messagebird, we will be able to bring broader, deeper value to all of our customers through any digital communications channel,” said SparkPost CEO Rich Harris in the release.

The deal adds companies like PayPal, Adobe, J.P. Morgan, The Walt Disney Co., Zillow, The New York Times, LinkedIn and others to MessageBird’s portfolio of customers, according to the release.

MessageBird also announced in the release that it expanded its Series C funding round to raise $1 billion in total. The round was backed by all existing investors, as well as new investors BlackRock, Eurazeo, Tiger Global and Owl Rock.

The round is the largest Series C in Europe to date, according to the release.

Last year, the idea of omnichannel commerce took an upswing, PYMNTS reported. And 2021 will be the year of three-dimensional commerce, according to PayPal Senior Vice President of Omni Payments Jim Magats.

“2020 was the year where this idea of omnichannel and retailing really got scale — where you basically create a three-dimensional experience between what has historically been a siloed online experience on your computer desktop and that of a physical store,” said Magats. “I think people are getting very comfortable with the idea of using a digital version of what they have used physically, with all of the different funding options and opportunities for choice.”